This weekend 7 other volunteers (Ericka, Rosie, Anne-Julie, Sam, Lauren-from US, Lauren-from UK, and Amy) and I went to Biliran, an island located just north of Leyte. We had a crazy girls weekend, it was so much fun.
Our excitement started at the Tacloban New Bus Terminal trying to find a ride to Naval, Biliran (the capital). Renting a van is generally a good option, but only if you get it for a good price, which shouldn't have been hard because we were a group of 8. We were expecting to pay about 150 pesos a person (1200 total). There...

I come home from the volunteer excursion to find a new volunteer, Lauren, eating dinner at my nanay's table. Hooray! I finally have a roommate. I give her the skinny (everything I have learned over the last 6 days) and talked her ear off. We seemed to get along pretty well so we walk down to the Astrodome, the multipurpose arena that is surrounded by bars and nightclubs. We walk around the perimeter a couple times as bar owners holler at us to come inside. Finally we choose a bar with no entrance fee and no strobe lights. We sit down and...

The 2010 New Year's Concert performed by the Mozart symphony orchestra is on this evening at Haidian Theater. Conductor Philip Mackenzie, violinist Amanda Lake and percussionist Owain Williams have been invited to join the ensemble, along with Chinese soprano Liu Hongling and baritone Wang Yining. In addition to the traditional repertoire, concertgoers can also enjoy some Chinese music selected to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC.

"Former Indonesian President, Abdurrahman Wahid, died on Wednesday afternoon at the age of 69. He served as the country's fourth president between 1999 and 2001.
Confirmation of Wahid's death was issued by a relative who received the news from a short text message sent by one of the former president's aides.
Wahid was receiving medical treatment at a hospital in Jakarta.
He suffered from blood sugar problems, and had undergone a gum operation.
Wahid replaced B.J. Habibie after the country's first democratically-held election in 1999.
He was...

"Many companies suffered declining profits in 2009, so they had to make up for by adding luggage, food and drink surcharges. But British budget airline Ryanair planed to charge people to use the bathroom. The carrier said it would install credit-card readers and charge $1.65 to use the bathroom.
The company also said it plans to remove two of the three bathrooms on each aircraft. According to officials, it will be at least two years before they have removed and reconfigured the airplane bathrooms.
Meanwhile, a Japanese company decided to...

"A Polish chief engineer is aboard a British-flagged chemical tanker hijacked by Somali pirates on Monday, Foreign Ministry deputy press spokesman Grzegorz Jopkiewicz said on Tuesday.
Jopkiewicz told TVN 24 television that the British ship owner had already phoned the Pole's family.
The U.K.-flagged St James Park tanker was the first merchant vessel to be hijacked in the Gulf of Aden in nearly six months. The ship issued a distress message on Monday, seeking help after it was attacked.
The tanker set sail from Spain and was headed for...

"The European Union (EU) Tuesday welcomed Russia's assurance of oil supplies via Ukraine to the 27- member bloc.
The European Commission, executive arm of the EU, said that the Russian government informed it that Russia had reached an agreement with Ukraine on the transit conditions and no interruption of oil supplies was foreseen.
EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said that he was very glad to note that the Russian and Ukrainian sides had found an agreement avoiding a disruption of oil supplies to the EU.
The Russian government...

"Russia's chief medical officer on Wednesday urged people to abstain from overeating and drinking too much during the New Year holidays.
Russia will observe the New Year and the Orthodox Christmas during the upcoming holiday from Jan. 1-10.
The usual overconsumption of food and drink during the holidays, together with reduced sport activities, will cause weight gain and heart burdens to most people, said Gennady Onishchenko.
The expert suggested people maintain healthy ways of living during the 10-day vacation, spending more time on...

"British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Wednesday welcomed news of the release of Peter Moore, one of the five British men taken hostage in Baghdad in May 2007.
Moore was released this morning and delivered to Iraqi authorities. He is now in the care of the British Embassy in Baghdad.
Miliband said: ""I am pleased to confirm that Peter Moore, one of the five men taken hostage in Baghdad in May 2007, has been released today ... I have spoken to our acting Ambassador in Baghdad this morning and also just had a very moving conversation...

"The Russian government has avoided a sharp increase in unemployment and preserved the country's underdeveloped banking system, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday while summing up the government's main achievements in 2009.
""Unemployment has grown and is still growing, but it isn't as dramatic as it might have been,"" Putin told reporters during a working visit to Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok.
Putin recalled that Russia's largest banks disappeared after the 1998 financial crisis and took money with them. ""We have...

"AT&T announced on Thursday the close of sponsorship deal with scandal-tainted golfer Tiger Woods.
""We are ending our sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods and wish him well in the future,"" the company said in a statement.
Accenture and Gillette have already pulled out of sponsorship deals with Woods after he admitted to ""infidelity"" to his wife.
Under the sponsorship deal, AT&T logo appeared on the golfer's bag while the company has said it will continue to host the AT&T National PGA event in July
Woods, one of the world's most...